Snake Concubine

Darkness.

Li Fan pushed open a door and reappeared in the main hall of the Prison of Suppression.

A towering stone stele stood silent in the center of the hall, the entire prison shrouded in darkness, save for a faint red glow filtering in from an unknown source.

"Snap."

Li Fan flicked his windproof lighter, the blood-red light illuminating his surroundings as he cautiously surveyed the area.

Although he had become the master of the Prison of Suppression, he still felt completely clueless.

He felt no sense of belonging to this place whatsoever.

After circling the stele with his lighter and confirming there was nothing to scavenge, Li Fan began walking toward the cell block.

It looked exactly like the prison Li Fan had imagined.

Rows of cold, imposing cells stood tall.

All were shrouded in an indescribable darkness.

Li Fan felt a chill in his heart.

It was too quiet.

No sooner had he thought this than he heard whispering coming from some of the surrounding cells.

It sounded as if strange creatures were murmuring in the dark.

It only made Li Fan more afraid.

Could they make some sounds that weren't so ghostly?

Should he bring a speaker next time?

While lost in thought, he passed a row of empty cells and arrived at the one housing the Tiger Pillar God.

He opened the observation window; the Tiger Pillar God was lying inside like a dog. Upon seeing Li Fan, it reflexively recoiled into the corner in terror.

Then, suddenly remembering something, it wagged its crocodile tail at Li Fan, a fawning smile plastered across its ferocious tiger face.

It looked even more like a dog now.

Li Fan gently shook the Tiger Pillar God's chains, signaling it not to be afraid and to be a good dog.

The Tiger Pillar God immediately began spinning in circles in excitement, seemingly overjoyed by Li Fan's affirmation.

It didn't look very bright.

It likely only possessed animal-level intelligence.

Yet, thinking back to its former ferocity, Li Fan dared not let his guard down.

He could borrow its power while it was locked in the cell, but who knew what would happen if it were ever released?

The Tiger Pillar God spun a few more times, performed a few "shake hands" and "sit" motions, and then sent a telepathic message to Li Fan, begging for the corpse of the Spider-Legged Monster next door.

Li Fan let out a cold snort:

"Vile beast, pushing your luck?"

The Tiger Pillar God immediately prostrated itself on the ground, trembling and wagging its tail frantically, not daring to say another word.

Li Fan's tightly wound nerves relaxed slightly.

Good, good, the Tiger Pillar God was still obedient.

He might try opening the cell door to let it out as a prison hound later; otherwise, being all alone in this dark, terrifying prison made him afraid to walk around.

He walked to the next cell, pushed open the observation window, and saw the Spider-Legged Monster lying there.

The pale corpse was devoid of those Human-Faced Snakes, leaving only the giant mouth split open in the chest, the strange head within, and the spider-like legs.

Without the swarms of snakes that triggered his trypophobia, it looked like just another ordinary anomalous infection.

It was on the same level of horror as the Amalgams he had dissected before.

Bronze chains also pierced the Spider-Legged Monster's body, one end of which passed through the metal door of the cell and dangled before Li Fan.

Was it really dead?

But why would the Prison of Suppression suppress a mere corpse?

Li Fan thought, then gently gripped the bronze chain and gave it a shake.

The previously motionless corpse of the Spider-Legged Monster shuddered, but otherwise didn't move.

Li Fan raised an eyebrow. Playing dead?

Although he had been quite disgusted and a bit scared of this thing before, it was in a cell now, the phobia-inducing snakes were gone, so stop playing games with him!

He grabbed the bronze chain and gave it a violent tug.

The benefits of being the master of the Prison of Suppression were immediately apparent; a massive force surged through the bronze chain, hoisting the Spider-Legged Monster into the air and slamming it hard against the inside of the metal door with a loud "boom."

The Spider-Legged Monster no longer dared to play dead. The head on its neck remained with eyes tightly shut, but the head growing from its chest had opened its eyes, which were filled with shock and terror. It begged for mercy in a weak voice:

"My Lord, please forgive me. I did not know you were that Lord; otherwise, I would never have dared to offend you... Please forgive me... Please forgive me..."

It then knelt on the ground and kowtowed with a series of loud thuds, as if trying to knock its very brains out.

"You can speak?"

Li Fan's eyes lit up, then he paused.

"That lord?"

Is the Collector so famous even in the world of anomalies?

"Even ghosts fear him?"

There was no time to overthink. He gripped the bronze chain and spoke in a hoarse, low voice:

"Where do you come from?"

"Tell me your story."

The Spider-Legged Monster immediately and submissively opened its consciousness, letting Li Fan take whatever he wanted.

The scene in Li Fan's mind shifted, and he found himself inside a cinema.

Silver Glow Cinema, in the heart of Gu City.

Tonight at midnight was the premiere of Legend of the Dian King.

The lead actors and the entire film crew had chosen Silver Glow Cinema as the venue for the premiere ceremony.

The most excited person in the entire crew was actually the young cinematographer.

He never let go of his camera, keeping the lens focused mostly on the lead actress of Legend of the Dian King, the "Snake Concubine" in the film.

According to the plot of Legend of the Dian King, the fictional King Dian Li had a concubine with a waist as slender as a snake, known as the "Snake Concubine."

During the days of filming, the cinematographer had secretly fallen in love with the girl who played the Snake Concubine.

However, he could only bury this affection deep in his heart.

Because he knew that after tonight's premiere, this girl, who was still a newcomer, would become a rising star.

The gap between him, a mere cinematographer, and her would grow wider and wider, becoming impossible to bridge.

They would become people from two different worlds.

But it didn't matter; thinking that her glorious future would have a contribution from his lens was enough to satisfy him.

Right now, he just wanted to capture as much of the Snake Concubine's beauty as possible.

Snake Concubine, Snake Concubine...

The crew was anxiously waiting for midnight to arrive, but the cinematographer wished for time to slow down, just a little longer.

Suddenly, he heard a hissing sound coming from underground, like a swarm of snakes flicking their tongues.

"Do you want... to possess... the Snake Concubine?"

The cinematographer thought he was hallucinating and shook his head, but the voice persisted.

Then, he saw the young woman get up, leave the lounge, and walk into a dark area.

He hurried to follow, but he couldn't find her; the hissing sound was simply coming from further ahead.

"Do you want to possess the Snake Concubine?"

Following the sound, he walked on, as if possessed, passing through several corridors until he arrived, dazed, at the basement of Silver Glow Cinema.

He descended all the way to the end of the basement, where a large pit was under construction, filled with excavated earth and stone.

The Snake Concubine is in this earth...

"Must save her..."

The dazed cinematographer jumped into the deep pit, digging into the hard soil with his bare hands until they were dripping with blood.

Upstairs in the cinema, the premiere was still being prepared in a flurry of activity. Many fans had already arrived, shouting the name of the "Snake Concubine," hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

The cinematographer could even faintly hear their cheers.

Finally, he dug a bone out of the soil.

It was a human facial bone.

This is the Snake Concubine.

Like a madman, the cinematographer used a small knife to slice open his own chest and shoved the bone inside with force.

The bone sucked at the cinematographer's blood, sprouting fleshy roots and growing rapidly until it became a complete head hidden within his chest.

Inside the deep pit, tiny Human-Faced Snakes crawled out and quickly burrowed into the cinematographer's body.

As if crawling into a nest...